I'm going to be away from home and my Model 3 will sit in the garage unused for about six weeks. My question is whether I should leave it plugged into the Tesla wall charger in my garage or let vampire drain do its thing and then charge it up when I get home. I'm concerned that if I don't leave it on the charger and the charge is completely drained by the time I get home, that there might be a loss of settings or some other problem.
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Long-term charging/storage
- Thread starter jcs3
- Start date
blackeducator
Member
I have kept my Model 3 plugged in for weeks when I travel. It's OK. Like, I'm currently away from it for the past 5 weeks and keep checking in via the APP. I've even updated the software without a hitch.
Great! Just what I wanted to hear. Thanks much for the quick and pertinent reply.
doghousePVD
My grandfather’s car
The manual says always keep plugged in (except when driving 
). Set the recharge level to 50%.
Letting the charge drop to zero is very bad for the batteries. You might even have to "jump start" the car by manually opening the frunk to charge the 12v sufficiently so it will accept a the regular charging cable.
You should be alright for six weeks, but why risk it? You can also set the charging back up to fullish before you get home.
). Set the recharge level to 50%.Letting the charge drop to zero is very bad for the batteries. You might even have to "jump start" the car by manually opening the frunk to charge the 12v sufficiently so it will accept a the regular charging cable.
You should be alright for six weeks, but why risk it? You can also set the charging back up to fullish before you get home.
Not common for an unused MCU to crash, but I left my car parked for 6 weeks with charging set for 50% ( I had around 60% charge when I left). Four days after I left, the car downloaded a software update and choked on it, taking the MCU (and remote connectivity) down. If I had turned off scheduled charging, the car would have conintued to charge as needed, but without being able to reboot the MCU, all charging was disabled. As the car was offline and the computers were not running, the vampire drain was minimal and/or the car went into deep sleep. I realised that it would be a good idea to turn scheduled charging off before long trips.
Re-booted the car when I got home and the battery was fine at around 40%.
Re-reading your question, the MCU is the main computer driving the display and most functions controlled by it.
Re-booted the car when I got home and the battery was fine at around 40%.
Re-reading your question, the MCU is the main computer driving the display and most functions controlled by it.
The answer to this question from Tesla's point of view is on page 122 of the manual, which specifically talks about charging.
The short version of that is, plug in the car when you are not driving it. Every time. (thats tesla's direct recommendation). Others sometimes feel differently, but the tesla itself is telling you to plug it in when you are not driving it, ESPECIALLY if you will not drive it for a while.
Here are the quotes from the users manual, which you can download from the tesla website in your account if you have not done so already:
======================================
About the Battery
Model 3 has one of the most sophisticated
battery systems in the world. The most
important way to preserve the Battery is to
LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE PLUGGED IN when
you are not using it. This is particularly
important if you are not planning to drive
Model 3 for several weeks.
When plugged in,
Model 3 wakes up when needed to
automatically maintain a charge level tha
maximizes the lifetime of the Battery.
Note: When left idle and unplugged, your
vehicle periodically uses energy from the
Battery for system tests and recharging the
12V battery when necessary.
There is no advantage to waiting until the
Battery’s level is low before charging. In fact,
the Battery performs best when charged
regularly.
Note: If the Model 3 Battery becomes
completely discharged in a situation in which
towing is required, the owner is responsible
for towing expenses. Discharge-related towing
expenses are not covered under the Roadside
Assistance policy
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